Champions League
SportingSporting Lisbon0ChelseaChelsea1

Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Chelsea

By Sam SheringhamBBC Sport
Nemanja Matic & Cesc Fabregas celebrate
Cesc Fabregas's free-kick set up the only goal of the game
  • Matic goal puts Chelsea top of Group G
  • Sporting keeper Patricio makes six saves
  • Terry plays 100th Champions League game

Nemanja Matic scored a first-half header as Chelsea edged out Sporting Lisbon in a breathless encounter to go top of Champions League Group G.

Brimming with pace and purpose, Chelsea almost took the lead inside two minutes when Diego Costa raced clear but Rui Patricio smothered his effort.

Andre Schurrle wasted several openings before Matic rose to loop a Cesc Fabregas free-kick over Patricio.

Sporting improved after the break but Chelsea held on for an important win.

Without Patricio's heroics and their own wasteful finishing, Chelsea could easily have won by a more convincing margin.

But boss Jose Mourinho, whose side were held 1-1 at home by Schalke in their first group game, will be nonetheless delighted to have picked up three points against a team that were unbeaten in 16 home matches in European competition.

Champions League Group G table
PlayedWonDrawnLostGDPoints
Chelsea211014
Maribor202002
Schalke202102
Sporting2011-11

He will be equally pleased that Costa put his fragile hamstring through a full 90 minutes only three days after Chelsea's 3-0 Premier League victory over Aston Villa.

The Spain striker, who has scored eight goals in his first six Premier League games, was a constant menace and could have scored on at least three occasions.

He should have put his team ahead in the second minute when he received Fabregas's threaded pass but his low shot was saved by Patricio with his legs.

The keeper was on hand again to smother Schurrle's close-range effort after Oscar had located another gap in the Sporting defence.

Schurrle had an even better chance moments later when Costa's cut-back teed him up in front of goal, but the Germany international dragged his shot wastefully wide.

Chelsea's pressure finally told when they took the lead from a set-piece. Fabregas's delivery from the left found an unmarked Matic at the far post and the midfielder, who used to play for Sporting's arch-rivals Benfica, planted a header over Patricio.

Terry's landmark
Chelsea captain John Terry became the sixth English player to make 100 appearances in the Champions League
The other five are Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, David Beckham, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard

Sporting were more energetic in the second half with Nani to the fore. The Manchester United loanee hammered one long-range effort wide and fired another into the side-netting.

In between, Chelsea again sprang the Sporting offside trap, but Patricio tore off his line to thwart Oscar.

In a frantic final 15 minutes there were openings at both ends.

Chelsea left-back Filipe Luis pulled a strike wide after a flowing counter-attack and substitute Mohamed Salah blasted at Patricio when he was through on goal.

At the other end, Nani curled a long-range shot narrowly past the post and Fredy Montero headed wide.

Chelsea clung on and will now turn their attention to Sunday's Premier League meeting with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho:

"This is not knockout where goals are fundamental. This is points. We lost two points at home; we recovered that.

"Because of the other draw, we put ourselves not in a comfortable position, but in one where we can control our destiny.

"We play two games against Maribor. If we manage six points, that would be 10 and job done.

"Now we have just to focus on beating Maribor, which I believe is not easy. To draw in Germany means something."

Sporting manager Marco Silva:

"We mustn't forget the merit of the opponent. We didn't start in a strong manner, but the match balanced out. We were able to create some equality in the flow of the game, but then showed a lack of attention for Chelsea's goal.

"In the second half we had to take risks. We had some chances, probably Chelsea had more chances.

"Ultimately it was a great show. We were able to entertain our fans. I think they went home content.

"That's good tonic for the next game, which we must face with the same determination we showed in the second half."

Nemanja Matic celebrates
Chelsea signed Matic from's Sporting's rivals Benfica for £21m in January 2014
Nani takes on Branislav Ivanovic
Nani (right) was one of Sporting's best players against Chelsea
Rui Patricio shakes hands with Jose Mourinho
Rui Patricio (left) was inspired in the Sporting goal

Line-ups

Sporting

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1Rui Patrício
  • 41Cédric SoaresBooked at 74mins
  • 3Dos Santos NascimentoBooked at 63minsSubstituted forRodrigues de Oliveiraat 63'minutes
  • 29Sarr
  • 33Cristian Silva
  • 17João MárioBooked at 43mins
  • 14William CarvalhoBooked at 25mins
  • 23Adrien SilvaSubstituted forMonteroat 81'minutes
  • 18CarrilloSubstituted forCapelat 81'minutes
  • 9Slimani
  • 77Almeida da Cunha

Substitutes

  • 4Nascimento
  • 8Soares Martins
  • 10Montero
  • 11Capel
  • 22Boeck
  • 24Rosell Argerich
  • 26Rodrigues de Oliveira

Chelsea

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 13Courtois
  • 2IvanovicBooked at 58mins
  • 24Cahill
  • 26Terry
  • 3Filipe LuísBooked at 75mins
  • 4FàbregasBooked at 90mins
  • 21Matic
  • 14SchürrleSubstituted forWillianat 58'minutes
  • 8OscarSubstituted forMikelat 71'minutes
  • 10E HazardBooked at 72minsSubstituted forSalahat 84'minutes
  • 19Diego Costa

Substitutes

  • 1Cech
  • 5Zouma
  • 12Mikel
  • 17Salah
  • 18Remy
  • 22Willian
  • 28Azpilicueta
Referee:
Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz
Attendance:
40,734

Match Stats

Home TeamSportingAway TeamChelsea
Possession
Home46%
Away54%
Shots
Home15
Away15
Shots on Target
Home3
Away7
Corners
Home2
Away12
Fouls
Home14
Away13

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Sporting Lisbon 0, Chelsea 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Sporting Lisbon 0, Chelsea 1.

  3. Booking

    Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  4. Post update

    Foul by Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea).

  5. Post update

    Fredy Montero (Sporting Lisbon) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  6. Post update

    Attempt saved. Mohamed Salah (Chelsea) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Cesc Fàbregas with a through ball.

  7. Post update

    Attempt saved. Cédric Soares (Sporting Lisbon) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

  8. Post update

    Corner, Sporting Lisbon. Conceded by John Obi Mikel.

  9. Post update

    Attempt blocked. William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

  10. Post update

    Attempt missed. Fredy Montero (Sporting Lisbon) header from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Jonathan Silva with a cross.

  11. Post update

    Foul by John Obi Mikel (Chelsea).

  12. Post update

    William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  13. Post update

    Offside, Chelsea. Nemanja Matic tries a through ball, but Diego Costa is caught offside.

  14. Post update

    Filipe Luis (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  15. Post update

    Foul by Nani (Sporting Lisbon).

  16. Post update

    Attempt missed. Nani (Sporting Lisbon) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner.

  17. Post update

    Attempt missed. Filipe Luis (Chelsea) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Willian.

  18. Post update

    Foul by John Obi Mikel (Chelsea).

  19. Post update

    Islam Slimani (Sporting Lisbon) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  20. Post update

    Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

As It Stood

A

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Juventus11002023
2Olympiakos11003213
3Atl Madrid100123-10
4Malmö FF100102-20

B

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Real Madrid11005143
2Liverpool11002113
3Ludogorets100112-10
4FC Basel100115-40

C

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Zenit St Petersburg11002023
2Monaco11001013
3B Leverkusen100101-10
4Benfica100102-20

D

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1B Dortmund11002023
2Anderlecht10101101
3Galatasaray10101101
4Arsenal100102-20

E

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Bayern Munich22002026
2Roma21106244
3Man City201112-11
4CSKA Moscow200216-50

F

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1PSG21104314
2Barcelona21013303
3Ajax20202202
4Apoel Nicosia201112-11

G

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Chelsea21102114
2NK Maribor20202202
3Schalke20202202
4Sporting201112-11

H

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1FC Porto21108264
2BATE Borisov210127-53
3Shakhtar Donetsk20202202
4Ath Bilbao201112-11
View full Champions League tables